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1098-T Frequently Asked Questions

In 1997, the Taxpayer Relief Act established two education tax credits and a deduction for student loan interest. These credits are explained in detail in Publication 970 from the IRS.

Effective with the 2018 tax year, eligible educational institutions (like NSCC) are required to report Payments received for qualified tuition and related expenses (Box #1) made during the 2018 calendar year. In order for students to be eligible, they must have qualified tuition and fee expenses during the 2018 calendar year as well.

Receiving the 1098-T form does not mean you necessarily qualify for a tax credit. If you have questions about how to calculate your education tax credit, you should consult your tax professional or refer to the IRS Tax Law site. NSCC cannot offer advice on tax matters.

The following FAQ’s were developed to assist students in understanding more about the 1098-T tax credit:

1. When can I expect to receive my 1098-T form?

NSCC works with General Dynamics Information Technology, Inc. (GDIT) to produce student 1098-T forms. Paper copies will be mail prior to January 31st annually. Students can access the information sooner by going to GDIT TRA Service. On this site, students can provide consent to receive their 1098-T electronically and they can also access current and previous year’s forms. GDIT will email the students as soon as their 1098-T form is available. Students who do not provide the electronic consent will receive the 1098-T form in the mail. You may also access the information in Campus Pipeline. NSCC will post a Pipeline announcement when the 1098-T information is available.

2. How can I determine whether I will receive a 1098-T form in the mail?

You can go to: GDIT TRA Services to view or print the form. If you already have an account, just log in; otherwise select the New Students button. You can also go to your NSCC Pipeline account to access the "Tax Notification" page. The first sentence located in the paragraph just above your 1098-T representation will indicate whether the form was sent to you. Here are the steps to access the Tax Notification page in Pipeline:

Log into your NSCC Pipeline account using your username and password.

Select the School Services tab at the top

Select the Student Services and Registration link

Select the Student Accounts link

Select Tax Notification

Input Tax year and hit "Submit"

3. Where was my 1098-T tax form mailed?

The IRS mandates that 1098-T tax forms be mailed to your address that we have on file. If you have not previously provided your address or if it is no longer valid, you must update your address via your Campus Pipeline account. Please note that invalid addresses will cause delay in delivering the form to you, however, you can go to GDIT TRA Services to print the official form immediately. If you already have an account, just log in; otherwise select the New Students button.

4. Can I request a copy of my 1098-T be sent to me or my Tax Preparer by email or fax?

The quickest way to obtain your official 1098-T information is via GDIT TRA Services. Your NSCC Pipeline account and print the page containing your 1098-T representation (see question 10 for instructions). Note: the form shown on your NSCC Pipeline account is not an official copy of your 1098-T form. It is only a representation of your original form. You are responsible for providing the 1098-T form information to your Tax Preparer.

5. Why is my social security number missing from my 1098-T?

With or without your Social Security Number (SSN), NSCC must notify you if you are eligible to receive a 1098-T form. If we do not have your SSN on file, it will not be included on your 1098-T tax form. NSCC attempts to obtain this information from our students annually. Each tax year, NSCC will notify students without an SSN and ask them to complete a W-9S form, which is the official IRS form used for requesting your SSN. These requests are typically sent to students without an SSN at least two times between November and January of each year.

Failure to furnish correct SSN or ITIN
Per IRS instruction on page two of the W-9S form located under the heading "Penalties", if you fail to furnish your correct SSN or ITIN to the requester you are subject to a penalty of $50.00 unless your failure is due to reasonable cause and not to willful neglect.

6. Who is excluded from receiving a 1098-T form?

We are not required to report to the IRS or to furnish a 1098-T form to you, if:

You were enrolled in courses for which no academic credit was offered, even if you were otherwise enrolled in a degree program.

You were a nonresident alien (unless you specifically requested a 1098-T).

You did not have qualified tuition and related expenses for the calendar year in question or your payments received for qualified tuition and related expenses were zero or less than zero.

There may be a number of less frequent reasons that you were not eligible for a 1098-T in a given calendar year, if you have any questions, please contact Student Financial Services via email at sfs@northshore.edu or by calling 978-762-4189.

7. What information is provided on my 1098-T tax form?

Below is a brief explanation of the form contents:

Box 1: Reports the total amount of payments received for qualified tuition and related expenses from all sources during the calendar year. The amount reported is the total amount of payments received less any reimbursements or refunds made during the calendar year that relate to the payments received for qualified tuition and related expenses during the same calendar year. The amount reported is not reduced by scholarships and grants reported in box 5. Include in this box the receipt of a payment of past-due qualified tuition or related expenses from a previous calendar year, but only if the educational institution previously billed the student for such amount(s).

Box 2: Blank, effective with the 2018 IRS regulatory changes.

Box 3: This box is checked as NSCC and all colleges/universities across the country were mandated to report (Box 1) payments received for qualified tuition and related expenses for the first time in 2018. We are now reporting under the payments received method. This is different than the reporting method (amounts billed) for 2017 and all earlier years. You should be aware of this change in figuring your education credits.

Box 4: Payments received – this should be blank for the 2018 1098-T because of the regulatory reporting change. Normally Box 4 reports the reimbursements or refunds of qualified tuition and related expenses made in 2018 that relate to payments received that were reported for any prior year after 2002. If the educational institution was previously reporting the amounts of qualified tuition and related expenses billed to the student, do not report a reimbursement or refund of qualified tuition made during calendar year 2018 because the amount would not have been reported by such institution for the previous calendar year.

Box 5: Reports the total of all scholarships or grants administered and processed by the eligible educational institution. Scholarships and grants generally include all payments received from third parties (excluding family members and loan proceeds). This includes payments received from governmental and private entities such as the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense, civic and religious organizations, and nonprofit entities. The amount of scholarships or grants for the calendar year (including those not reported by the institution) may reduce the amount of the education credit you claim for the year.

Box 6: Reports the adjustments to scholarships or grants for a prior year. This amount may affect the amount of any allowable tuition and fees deduction or education credit that you claimed for the prior year. You may have to file an amended income tax return (Form 1040X) for the prior year.

Box 7: If checked, this box reports if any payments received for qualified tuition and related expenses reported for current calendar year relate to an academic period that begins in January through March of following calendar year.

Box 8: This box is checked if the student was at least a half-time student during any academic period that began during the calendar year. A half-time student is a student enrolled for at least half the full-time academic workload for the course of study the student is pursuing. Your institution's standard for a half-time student work load must equal or exceed the standards established by the Department of Education under the Higher Education Act and set forth in 34 C.F.R. section 674.2(b).

Box 9 and 10: These boxes do not apply to NSCC or NSCC current/former students.

8. Where can I obtain detail of the amounts entered in the boxes of my 1098-T?

The detailed breakdown is available through your Pipeline account. To view the information, log into your NSCC Pipeline account (see question 10 below for instructions). Refer to the category headings labeled: Detail of Payments Received, Details of Amounts Billed and Detail of Scholarships or Grants just below the 1098-T representation or by clicking on the individual amounts on the 1098-T representation.

9. In addition to my 1098-T information, is additional information regarding my 2018 tuition and fee account activity available to assist in the preparation of my tax return?

You may also follow the steps below to access your Account Detail by Term.

Log into Campus Pipeline

Select the School Services tab at the top

Select the Student Services and Registration link

Select the Student Account link

Select Account Detail by Term to view charges, payments and credits to account by term

10. How do I access NSCC Pipeline account to obtain my 1098-T information?

Log into your NSCC Pipeline account using your username and password.

Select the School Services tab at the top

Select the Student Services and Registration link

Select the Student Accounts link

Select Tax Notification

Input Tax year and hit "Submit"

11. If I have additional questions about my 1098-T tax form, who do I contact?

If you have additional questions about your 1098-T tax form, please come by the Student Financial Services Office on either the Danvers or Lynn campuses, or you can call 978-762-4189 or email us at sfs@northshore.edu.

12. Will my 1098-T Tuition Statement information be provided to the IRS?

Yes. We are required to submit an electronic version of your 1098-T information to the IRS by March 31, 2018.

13. I don’t understand what I’m supposed to do with this Form 1098-T?

We are unable to provide tax advice. For guidance you may want to consider IRS Publication 970 in addition to choosing a tax professional. We recommend that you consult your tax professional for assistance with tax return preparation and with claiming an educational tax credit/benefit.